[UbuntuWomen] Best Practices Links

[Elizabeth Krumbach]

On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:44 AM, Susan Spencer <susan.spencer at gmail.com> wrote:
> The grrls-only-request at linuxchix.org list had a thread
> about the following links. I've put what I'd like to include on
> the Ubuntu Women Best Practice page in quotes
> underneath each link. Links &/or a short thanks to geekfeminism &
> hackerschool
> would be included at the bottom of the page.
>
> 1. http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Women-friendly_forum -
> "Should an incident arise, simple apologies are the best response.
> No need for explanations that may worsen the situation
> (foot-in-mouth-disease can be highly contagious).
> The recommended social exchange to strive for is a sincere apology --
> "Please accept my apologies. It won't happen again." --
> followed by a trust-filled response -- "Certainly, apology accepted." --
> with a handshake to seal the deal. No grovelling required.
> The desired result is to quickly move past mistakes onto more constructive
> ground.
> Sincerity and trust are implicit aspects of the Ubuntu and other Open
> Source communities, and
> gender and diversity issues should not be the exception. Social mistakes,
> just like software bugs, are to be treated as learning opportunities in
> order to achieve
> the best possible outcome."
>
> 2. https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/1-summer-2012-applications-open
> "Show respect for others' knowledge base and technical vocabulary,
> which are as varied in the Ubuntu community as levels of social skills.
> Remarks about someone's *perceived* lack of knowledge or precision with
> terminology often serve to sidetrack technical conversations rather
> than enhance them."

Following the link, I'm really impressed with HackerSchool's "No
well-actuallys" and "no feigning surprise" rules, these two things are
rampant among some communities and I never was able to quite put a
name on what they were. They really are demotivating and while the
person on the pedantic side ("no well-actuallys") may think they are
being helpful by offering clarification or more details, they rarely
actually serve a useful purpose.

> What say we all?
> (dissenters welcome, please speak up!)
> (agree-ers also welcome, please speak up!)

Scandal aside (yeah, grrls-only does have a tight policy on sharing
content) I think this looks great and would be a welcome addition to
the page. Thanks Susan!

-- 
Elizabeth Krumbach // Lyz // pleia2
http://www.princessleia.com